Brutal Discoveries
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Takes Place after season one but before season two. The team is called to Norfolk when an NCIS agent is attacked and left for dead. They soon learn it is not just any agent, but also someone they know. Now they will do anything to exact revenge. What secrets will they learn during the course of their investigation and will the young agent survive?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or any of its characters**

**Brutal Discoveries**

Kate walked off the elevator and towards her desk in the bullpen of NCIS. Tony was already there at his desk. "Good morning, Tony."

Tony grinned. "Ah, indeed it is, Kate. Had a date last night with a smoking hot chick. Needless to say, she made Anthony very happy."

"Ugh! You're such a pig Tony," Kate said with a look of disgust.

"You're just upset that you didn't get lucky. You probably spent your weekend reading or some boring junk like that," Tony said.

"There is nothing wrong with having a laid back weekend," Kate said.

"You mean a boring one. You need some excitement in your life, Kate," Tony said.

"Excitement is overrated," Gibbs said as he walked past them to his desk. "There's a guy in Norfolk that would agree with that statement. He was stabbed twice and then his place was set on fire with him in it. Grab your gear."

Tony and Kate immediately stood up and got their things together. "Marine or Navy, Boss," Tony asked.

"Don't know. Maybe neither," Gibbs said.

"Well, then why are we responding?" Kate asked in confusion. They only took cases involving Navy or Marine.

"Not sure. Norfolk PD apparently has reason to believe it's an NCIS case," Gibbs said as he started for the elevator.

"Should I call Ducky?" Tony asked as he and Kate caught up.

"Nope. No body. Victim's apparently still alive," Gibbs said as they all made it into the elevator.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

The team arrived at a small apartment at Norfolk a few hours later. The apartment was a mess. What wasn't completely destroyed was extremely charred.

Gibbs approached a man that looked to be in charge and showed him his badge. "Special Agent Gibbs."

"Detective Bricks. Thanks for coming," he said.

"Exactly what happened here?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, there's no sign of forced entry, so we're assuming the victim let his assailant in," Detective Bricks said.

"Don't assume. I've got a rule against it. Go on," Gibbs said.

"Uh, anyway, whoever it was stabbed him twice and set the place on fire. The smoke detectors and fire alarms were deactivated. The only reason this whole building didn't go up in flames is because one of the neighbors smelled the smoke and called 911."

"So that means that whoever did this probably planned it," Tony said.

"And almost succeeded in committing murder. He'll he still might. EMT's weren't holding out much hope for the guy's survival. He was burned pretty badly and that was after getting stabbed," the detective said.

"It's surprising he survived this long," Kate said. Not many could survive being stabbed twice and then being caught in a burning building with no way to save themselves.

"Who is he?" Gibbs asked.

"We don't know. We haven't found any ID. I'm sure there was some at some point, but it was probably destroyed," Detective Bricks said.

"Well, then why did you call us? How can you possibly know this is an NCIS matter if you can't identify the guy?" Tony asked.

The Detective went over to the table, or what was left of it anyway and picked up an evidence bag. "We found this in a desk drawer.

Gibbs took the offered document. It was almost completely destroyed, but was some things he could make out. There was an insignia at the top as well as the letters 'ETC'. The letters alone wouldn't be enough for Gibbs to recognize it, but the insignia was. "It's a FLETC certificate."

"Yeah, my partner recognized it. We called you right away," Bricks said.

Anger started to build up inside Gibbs. Some bastard had dared attack an NCIS agent. That bastard was going to pay for that. This just became personal. Gibbs was going to make sure whoever did this regretted the day he even heard of this agent.

"He was an NCIS agent," Tony said through gritted teeth. If there was one thing he hated above all else it was when some dirt bag went after one of their own, and the fact that it had been so soon after Pacci was murdered made it even worse.

"Still is, DiNozzo. He's not dead. Where's he been taken?" Gibbs asked Bricks.

"There's a hospital just around the corner from the NCIS Norfolk field office. It's called…"

"Yeah, we know where it is. Kate, you head there now. Find out his condition and get a picture if you can. We've gotta identify this agent," Gibbs said.

"I don't think that's gonna be so easy, Agent Gibbs. His face was pretty badly burned. I don't think you're gonna be able to identify him that way," Bricks said.

"Go, Kate," Gibbs ordered.

Kate nodded and walked out of the apartment.

"Tony, get on the phone with McGee. See if he knows of any agents that haven't shown up for work," Gibbs said. McGee was there best bet to narrowing down the list of possibilities for the identity of their victim. He would have easy access to the information since he worked at the Norfolk field office.

"On it, Boss," Tony said as he took out his phone walked to the other end of the room.

"Anything else you can tell me, Bricks?" Gibbs asked the detective.

"Not much. The fire started in the living room, probably inches away from your agent. The plan was probably either to finish the job or cover up any evidence that might have been left behind.

"What started the fire?" Gibbs asked.

"Can't say for sure until the fire marshals investigate the scene, but given the amount of damage, I'd say gasoline," Bricks said.

Tony came back at that moment. "Boss, McGee's not answering his office phone."

"Then call his cell," Gibbs said annoyed. That should've been obvious to his senior field agent.

"Um, I don't know his cell number, Boss," Tony said. He'd known it at some point, but he never saved the number. He'd never had any reason to have McGee's cellphone number on hand. The kid had only worked with them a handful of times and most of the time it was spent behind a desk.

Gibbs sighed unhappily. "Let's go. We're going to the Norfolk field office," Gibbs said before leading the way out of the apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

Kate was standing in the waiting room of the hospital waiting for the doctor treating their nameless NCIS agent. The nurse she'd spoken with had refused to give out any information, saying that only the doctor could tell her anything.

"Agent Todd?"

Kate turned around to see a young doctor with dark brown hair a few feet away. She immediately headed over to him. "That's me."

"Doctor Mackey. I hear you're inquiring about one of my patients," the doctor said.

"Yes. He'd be listed under a John Doe. He was brought in with stab and burn wounds," Kate said.

"Yes, I know the patient you're referring to. I assume you'll be investigating his murder," Doctor Mackey said.

Kate's face blanched at the word 'murder'. "He's dead?"

"Not yet. He's alive for now, but I don't see that lasting much longer. John Doe lost a lot blood due to the stab wounds and he suffered burns on over half his body, many of them third degree. Not to mention quite a bit of smoke inhalation. Honestly, it amazes me that he's alive now," the doctor said.

Kate shuddered at the thought someone going through all that. As an NCIS agent, this man's life would've been in danger every single day, but she very much doubted he considered something like this happening when he applied. She knew she hadn't. "So what's being done for him?"

"Well, we haven't been able to do much. Normally, he would've been brought into surgery to start skin grafting procedures, but I don't think he'd survive such a surgery. He's too unstable. He barely survived the surgery for the stab wounds. Besides, like I said, I don't think it's gonna make much of a difference," Doctor Mackey said sadly.

"You don't think he's gonna live."

"No. He's barely alive now. He's not breathing on his own. He's hooked up to a ventilator, and even that's barely keeping him alive. So like I said, we haven't been able to do much. All we can really do is keep him comfortable. We've put him into a medical induced coma on the off chance that he would wake up otherwise. Because if he did wake up, he'd be in agony," Doctor Mackey explained.

"Is there any chance he'll live?" Kate asked. She sincerely hoped he would live. She didn't want to think about an NCIS agent dying like this.

Doctor Mackey sighed and seemed to contemplate how to answer. "I can give you the answer that I would tell his friends and family. There's always a chance. Miracles happen every day. But the honest answer is that there almost zero chance of that. He has a less than ten percent chance of surviving even another day. I'm sorry, Agent Todd, but I have a feeling that when you arrest the person who did this, you'll be charging them with murder."

"Was his face…? Is there anything you can tell me about his features?" Kate asked. She had to identify this guy. It wasn't about the case. She wanted to be able to give this agent his name back before he died and give his family the chance to say goodbye.

The doctor shook his head sadly. "His face was severely burned. There were no features visible except for burns."

"Can I see him?" Kate asked. She wasn't sure why she asked that. She didn't know the man at all. She had no reason to visit him. Maybe it was because he was an agent or maybe it was because he had no one else right now. She just felt compelled to see him.

"Why would you want to? He can't talk to you, Agent Todd," he said.

"I understand that," Kate said.

"Alright. I'll take you to his room," the doctor said. He led down to the ICU and down the hall. They stopped at a door in the middle of the hallway. "He's in there."

"Thank you," Kate said before walking inside. The sight that greeted her was horrifying. There was a man lying in a hospital bed a few feet away. Most of his body was covered in bandages, including most of his face. The parts that were visible were either black or red.

Kate walked over to the bed. "Hi. I know you don't know me, but I'm Special Agent Kate Todd. I'm an NCIS agent, like you. I'm here to tell you that we're gonna find out what happened to you. We're gonna make whoever did this to you pay. I work for Special Agent Gibbs. I don't know if you've heard of him, but he's good at what he does. There's no way he'll let one of our own be hurt like this without making the person who did it pay.

Unsurprisingly, the only sound in the room was the ventilator.

Kate sat down in the chair by the bed. She was going to stay. She may not know this agent, but he was one of theirs and if he did die, she was going to make sure he didn't die alone.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony was knocking on McGee's office door at the Norfolk field office. Gibbs had told him to come down while he dealt with the higher ups. He was hoping Tony could get the information from McGee quicker than he could. "Come on, McGee, open up!"

There was no answer.

"McGee, open the damn door! I don't have time for this!" Tony yelled.

A door opened across the hall. "Hey!"

Tony turned around to see an annoyed man behind him.

"You would think you'd get the memo after the second time you screamed. McGee's not in there," the agent said.

"Well, then where is he? He pushes paperwork. It's not like he's on a hot case," Tony said.

"He didn't come in today," he said impatiently.

Tony couldn't help the cold feeling that took over his body. "McGee didn't come in? He called out?"

"Well, he hasn't been in all morning, so that must have been what happened," the agent said.

"Is McGee out often?" Tony asked. He doubted he was. McGee wasn't the type to skip work. He seemed like the type that went for that perfect attendance record in school. He'd probably be even more punctual at work.

"No, this would be a first other than when he helps in DC. Anyway, just quit your yelling. Some of us are trying to work," the agent said before disappearing back in his office.

Tony took a deep breath to force himself to calm down. This didn't mean anything. So McGee had never called out before. That didn't mean he never would. He was probably just too sick to come in. It didn't mean he'd been attacked and left to burn to death in that apartment. After all, no one had any reason to hurt McGee. Right?

Tony walked away from McGee's office. He had to tell Gibbs what he'd learned. It might or might not be McGee fighting for his life, but either way, Gibbs needed to know.


	3. Chapter 3

Gibbs was extremely irritated. He was standing in an office with the agent in charge of the Norfolk office and he was being stonewalled. "Agent Jackson, we've got an agent in the hospital fighting for his life, your agent, might I had."

"I understand that Agent Gibbs. Believe me, I am very well aware of the seriousness of this situation," Jackson said.

"Then get me the information I'm looking for!" Gibbs yelled.

"It's not as simple as me getting you the information. I don't have the information," Jackson said

Gibbs gave him a look. "You don't know which of your agents showed up and which didn't?"

Jackson sighed. "The check-in is done electronically, as I'm sure it's done at your building as well. Normally, I could pull the information up, but unfortunately, there is a glitch in the system that we have been unable to fix. That particular part of the system is down. We had our best tech agent working on it, but he didn't show up this morning."

"Fine. Let's start with him then," Gibbs said. If this tech was missing, it left him as a potential victim.

Just then, the door to the office burst open and Tony walked in. "Boss, we have to talk."

"Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing? Do you normally barge into other people's offices?" Jackson asked.

"What's wrong? Did McGee tell you anything?" Gibbs asked.

"No. McGee's not here, Boss. I spoke to the agent across the hall from him. McGee didn't show up this morning," Tony said in a shaky voice. He'd tried really hard not to believe that McGee was the agent fighting for his life, but something inside him just wouldn't believe that.

Gibb felt a shiver run down his spine. He pictured McGee being trapped in that burning building and it unnerved beyond anything, which was saying a lot. Out of all the agents at NCIS, McGee was probably the most innocent. Something like this happening to him was just very, very wrong.

Gibbs did his best to gain control of his emotions and turned back to Agent Jackson. "I need Timothy McGee's file and I need it now!"

Jackson immediately got up and went to the file cabinet. "You really think Agent McGee is your victim. He's a probie. He's barely been here a year. No one has any reason to hurt him."

"Since when do sickos need a reason?" Gibbs asked.

"Here it is," Jackson said before walking back and handing Gibbs the personnel file.

Gibbs took it and immediately opened it in search for an address.

"Boss, it's not him, right. I mean, this dude's right. No one would wanna hurt McGee," Tony said. He prayed to God it wasn't McGee. He knew he gave McGee a hard time, but he would never wish something like this on the kid. The very idea of it made him sick to his stomach.

Gibbs stared at the first page of the file before wordlessly handing it to Tony.

Tony took the offered file and looked at it. After reading the address, he blanched. It was the same as the apartment they'd just seen. It was him. It was McGee.

Gibbs turned back to Jackson. "Well, it seems this probie agent was the one attacked. What do you know about McGee?"

"Next to nothing. He comes in every day and does his job. He has a confidence issue, which I'm sure you've noticed. Oh, his father is a navy admiral. That's in the file though," Jackson said.

Gibbs considered the last piece of information. There was a chance that McGee was attacked as a way to get to his father. Admirals had a lot of enemies. "Tony, I want you to call Kate. Fill her in and get a status report on McGee's condition."

"On it, Boss. Uh, what about Abby? She needs to know about this too. She and McGee were really close for a while," Tony said.

"Not over the phone," Gibbs said. Abby wouldn't take this well. He would have to tell her himself when they got back to DC.

Tony nodded and headed out of the room.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Kate was standing just outside their injured NCIS agent's room. The nurse had kicked her out while she took his vitals and changed his bandages. It was just as well though. Kate wasn't sure she wanted to see what was underneath those bandages. What she could see was bad enough.

Soon, Kate's phone began to ring. She immediately grabbed it and answered it. "Agent Todd."

"_Hey, Kate," _Tony's voice came in a sad, bleak voice.

"Tony. Any leads?" Kate asked.

"_Uh, you first. What's his condition?" _Tony asked.

"Bad. They don't think he's gonna make it. They've given him a less than ten percent survival probability.

Tony shuddered at the other end of the phone. _"Damn it."_

Kate frowned at the sound of her partner's voice. He was clearly upset. That didn't really surprise her as she was upset too. An NCIS agent had been attacked in the most gruesome way imaginable. Anyone would find that upsetting. But Tony's distress seemed to be really personal, almost like he knew the man. "Tony, are you okay?"

"_We found out who he is, Kate. He's not a stranger," _Tony said.

"We know him? Have we worked with him?" Kate asked.

"_Yeah. Several times. He's helped us on a lot of cases," _Tony said.

Kate completely froze for a few seconds. There was only one agent that they'd worked with from Norfolk that helped them so frequently. It couldn't be him though. That would just be so wrong. It was wrong no matter who it was, but somehow it seemed it would be even more wrong if it were him. "No."

"_Yeah. It's McGee."_

Kate let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Are you sure?"

"_We checked his file. It's his address," _Tony said sadly.

Kate turned and looked in the window at… McGee. The nurse was currently redressing the bandages on his arms. "This is not right, Tony. Out of everyone in the world, he's the last person who deserves this."

"_I know," _he said.

"He's the nicest person I've ever met," Kate continued without looking away from the window.

"_I know, Kate. It's not fair," _Tony said.

Kate took a deep breath to try control herself. It was futile really, but she had to try. "I'm staying with him. If he does die, I'm not gonna let it happen while he's alone. He should have someone with him."

"_Yeah, okay. I'll tell Gibbs."_

"We've gotta find this guy, Tony. We've gotta make him pay," Kate said before hanging up the phone.

The nurse came out at that moment. "You can go back in now if you'd like. We've changed all of John Doe's bandages."

"He's not a John Doe. His name is Special Agent Timothy McGee. I want that put in his chart and on his ID bracelet. Give him his name back," Kate said before disappearing into the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony was standing by the car in the parking lot. He had just gotten off the phone with Kate and he couldn't go back inside yet. The news of what had happened to McGee and Kate's grim status report were weighing heavily on him.

McGee was dying. Kate had been quite clear on that. The kid had a less than ten percent chance of survival. Those just weren't good odds. That kid that had helped them solve over a handful of cases was gonna die before he even made it to field agent status.

Tony rubbed his eyes. This just wasn't fair. McGee was the nicest person in the world, almost to a fault. He didn't deserve this. Somehow it always happened like that. The ones who didn't deserve it were always the ones to get hurt the most.

Tony was pulled from his thoughts by a tap on the shoulder. He turned to see Gibbs there. "Oh, sorry, Boss, I didn't see you coming."

"What'd Kate say?" Gibbs asked.

Tony cringed. He knew his boss wasn't going to like what he had to say. Hell, he didn't like what he had to say. "It's not good, Boss. Apparently, he has a less than ten percent chance of survival. We're gonna lose him."

"Like hell we are," Gibbs said before heading for the driver's side of the car. McGee was going to survive this. Anything else was unacceptable. His people didn't get to die until he said so. And McGee was his. He'd put the paperwork in a week ago to have the young agent transferred to his team. He was just waiting for the paperwork to be filed. McGee was his.

"Boss, the doctors said…"

"Yeah, I heard you, DiNozzo. Less than ten percent, not zero. There was also a less than likely chance that he'd survive being stabbed and burned, isn't he. McGee will live. Now, get in, we're going to the hospital," Gibbs said before slipping into the driver's seat.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Kate was sitting by McGee's bedside. She hadn't left his side since she'd been allowed back in. No one had really bothered her, except to change McGee's hospital bracelet like she'd instructed.

Kate stared down at him. "McGee… Tim, it's Kate. I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve this. No one deserves this, but least of all you. You'd never hurt anyone, yet some bastard has decided to hurt you in worst way imaginable."

Tim didn't respond, not that he was expected to.

Kate laughed humorlessly. "You know what the worst part is? If you were to wake up, you'd probably find some way to understand it. You'd find some way to forgive it because that's who are. That fact makes me wanna kill this bastard so much more. You are the kind of person who would forgive this heinous attack. It makes it that much worse that this was done to you."

Kate took a minute to try to contain the massive amount of rage she was feeling. "Well, you might forgive it, but I won't and neither will Gibbs or Tony. We will make the son of a bitch pay for what he did to you. I know you probably find that hard to believe since we've all given you such a hard time. I can't speak for the others, but I went along with it because I thought it would help you become a better agent. Now you may not get that chance."

Just then, Kate heard the door open. She turned to see Tony standing there. "Hey."

Tony barely heard her. His attention was on McGee and the damage that was done to him. Tony had seen some pretty horrible things during his time as an agent and as a cop, but seeing McGee in that bad covered in bandages and having tubes coming out of his mouth was by far the worst. He didn't know if it was because he knew McGee or what. All he knew was that he was not prepared to see this.. "Oh my God."

Kate stood up and approached her partner. "I know. It's bad. Where's Gibbs?"

"He'll be here in a minute. He's talking to McGee's doctor," Tony said.

"He's not gonna hear anything that I didn't tell you on the phone. He's dying, Tony," Kate said with tears in her eyes.

"Don't let Gibbs hear you say that. He refuses to believe that McGee is going to die. Maybe he's right. No one's ever defied Gibbs' expectations before. There's no reason to believe that McGee will be the first," Tony said.

"Tony, look at him. You can't even see most of the damage and you know he looks bad. The doctor told me that there was nothing distinguishable about him when he was brought in. He was covered in burns. Plus, he was stabbed. How can anyone come back from all that?" Kate asked. She wanted to believe he'd live, she really did, but the more time she spent with McGee and the more she thought about his condition, the less likely it seemed.

"But he did. He's alive when everyone says he shouldn't be. He's obviously got a strong will to live. He can do it," Tony said. He thought a lot about it in the car. Gibbs was right. McGee had already survived the impossible. He was alive when most would've died. Maybe he could keep proving everyone wrong.

Kate looked back at McGee. "Maybe he can, but will he want to? Look at him, Tony. He's so broken. If he lives, it'll take him months, maybe even years to recover. If he ever fully does. And then there's the psychological damage it'll do to him. His apartment was set on fire with him in it. He felt the heat all around him and the flames engulf him. No matter what, if he lives, he's gonna be in physical and emotional agony for a long time.

Tony began to seethe after listening to his partner describe the pain McGee would go through. "God, I want this bastard! When we catch up to him, he's gonna wish he never laid eyes on McGee."

"Are there any leads," Kate asked.

"One. Gibbs thinks this might be some kind of retaliation against McGee's father. His dad's apparently a bigwig in the Navy. They could've used McGee to get to him," Tony said.

Just then, all the machines started going haywire, including Tim's heart monitor. He was fading.


	5. Chapter 5

Tony and Kate looked on in sheer horror as their occasional colleague flat lined. "Oh, God! No!" Kate yelled.

Suddenly, the door opened and the doctor and several nurses entered the room. "You two need to leave," one of them said.

"What's going on? Is he gonna be okay?" Tony asked.

"We don't know yet. You need to go!"

Hesitantly, Kate and Tony walked out of the room. When they got there, Gibbs was waiting.

"What the hell's going on?" Gibbs demanded to know.

Tony sighed sadly. "McGee's heart stopped. We're not sure why."

Gibbs looked through the window where the doctors were working on McGee. He saw them using paddles to try to shock his heart back to life.

"The doctor said that he probably wouldn't survive another day," Kate said sadly. She hated even the thought of it, but it looked like the doctors were right. McGee was dying.

Gibbs turned to glare at Kate. "He's not dead yet. You will not give him up as a lost cause, Agent Todd."

Kate glared back at her boss. "It's not like I want him to die, Gibbs. It's the last thing I want. But look at him. His body is so damaged that seems almost impossible for him to recover. How can he come back from that? How can anyone?"

"The same way we all survive difficult situations, Kate. Through strength. And McGee has the strength to survive this. He's proven than by living through it thus far. He didn't make it through all this just to die now. He will make it," Gibbs said.

Just then, Doctor Mackey came out of Tim's room. "We got his heart started again."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that's great."

"Why did it stop to begin with?" Kate asked.

"Because he's in extremely critical condition. His heart, as well as the rest of his body in under a lot of stress. The respirator is barely able to do its job. It failed to for a few seconds, causing his heart to stop beating," Doctor Mackey explained.

"But he's okay now, right?" Tony asked.

"He's alive for the moment. I would not say he's okay," Doctor Mackey said.

"He'll be okay," Gibbs said confidently.

Doctor Mackey sighed. "Agent Gibbs, I encourage all friends and family members to have hope when it's possible, but I don't think it is in this case."

"Doc, you told me not too long ago that he wouldn't survive another incident. If his heart stopping isn't an incident, I don't know what is," Gibbs said

"Yes, and he did survive it, but just barely," the doctor said.

"He's just barely survived a lot of things. He just barely survived being stabbed twice and left to burn to death in his own home. He just barely survived the night. Now he just barely survived his heart stopping. I'm seeing a trend here, Doctor Mackey," Kate said. She was beginning to come around to what Gibbs and Tony were saying. McGee had survived all these things that everyone said he couldn't. Who was to say he couldn't make it all the way? She couldn't say that he wouldn't die, but there was certainly no reason to go planning his funeral.

"That's all well and good, but I…"

"Yeah, I get it, you don't think he's gonna make it. You've been real clear on that. Less than ten percent, that's what you told me. But ten percent isn't zero. He has a chance and he deserves for us all to believe in him," Kate said. That was most likely the point Tony and Gibbs were trying to make. They couldn't give McGee up for dead. He needed them to believe that he could pull through this.

"Alright. Just try to keep in mind that the odds are not in his favor," the doctor said.

"I wanna see him," Gibbs said. It was time for him to have his little talk with McGee. It was the same talk he had with every agent that was in danger of dying.

"Uh, the nurses are still getting him situated. You can see him after that," Doctor Mackey said before walking away.

"Glad you came around, Kate," Gibbs said.

"Even if he does live, he's not gonna have it easy. I mean, can he ever fully recover from this?" Kate asked.

Gibbs looked through the window again and stared at the damage done to McGee's body. Well, the damage that was visible anyway. "No, probably not. But that doesn't mean he can't have a fulfilling life. He'll be okay. One way or another, he'll be okay."

Kate took a deep breath. "We have to find his family. They have to know what's happened to him."

"I was reading his personnel file on the way here. As we all know, his father is a navy admiral. He could be anywhere right now. McGee also has an eighteen-year-old sister," Tony asked.

"Eighteen? Oh, God. How is she supposed to be expected to make the decisions that will undoubtedly have to be made about McGee's medical care?" Kate asked. She just assumed it would fall on the sister since McGee's father would probably take a while to get there.

"She won't. His father will come when finds out what's happened. Until then, we'll handle it," Gibbs said.

Just then, the nurses came out. "You can go in now. Two at a time," one of them said.

"You two wait here," Gibbs said before walking into McGee's room. He immediately went over to the chair by the bed and sat down. "Hey, McGee, it's Gibbs. I don't normally say this to anyone, but you've done well. You beat everyone's expectations. Every time in the last couple of days when someone said you couldn't pull through, you proved them wrong."

Gibbs leaned forward so that he was practically whispering in McGee's ear. "You're gonna keep doing that now. You're gonna keep fighting. You know why? Because you're mine. Already filed the paperwork to have you transferred. You're mine now. And you don't get to leave this world until I say so. You got me, McGee.

Naturally there was no response but the continued work of the respirator.

Gibbs leaned back and smiled. "Yeah, you got me. You'll make it. You'll make it."


	6. Chapter 6

Tony and Kate were watching through the window as Gibbs sat with McGee. "What do you think he's saying to him?" Kate asked.

"I already know what he's saying. He's giving him the 'You better not die' speech," Tony said. He was very familiar with said speech. He'd heard it many times over the past few years.

Kate looked at Tony. "The what?"

"Gibbs has a rule. It's not like his other rules. It's just something he doles out every time one of his people are hurt or sick. He goes to them and tells them that they don't have permission to die," Tony explained.

"And that really works?" Kate asked skeptically.

"I'm still here, aren't I? Gibbs has a way with the people that work for him. None of us would dare defy his orders, especially that one," Tony said.

"That sounds crazy," Kate said.

"Maybe, but it works. It'll work this time too. It has to," Tony said. McGee couldn't die. He just couldn't. Not only would it not be fair, it would be cruel. McGee had a lot to offer the world. Even if he couldn't be an agent anymore, he had so much to offer the world. Taking him away before he had the chance to reach his potential wouldn't just be cruel to McGee, it would be cruel to the rest of the world as well.

"This is really hitting you. It's more than just an agent being hurt. The fact that it's him is getting to you. It's surprising because I always assumed you didn't like McGee," Kate said.

Tony turned and crossed to the other side of the hallway. "I didn't get McGee. And it's not just the tech stuff. He's always been so innocent, naïvely so. After all the crap I've seen both as a cop and as an agent, it was hard to believe that someone like him existed. The fact that he did exist though, was a problem in this line of work. If he continued to be so naïve, I was afraid it would destroy him. And I was right."

"We don't know how this happened, Tony. Depending on the circumstances, it could've happened to any of us," Kate said.

Tony finally turned to face Kate once more. "But it didn't. It happened to him. And that makes it so much worse. You know, something like this happening to anybody would be awful, but the fact that it happened to him makes it downright evil! It takes a truly sick person to go after someone so good. And I want that person to suffer in the worst possible way!"

"They will."

Kate and Tony turned to see that Gibbs had come out of Tim's room. "Hey, Boss. How is he?"

"Hanging in there. We've got work to do now. We need to find this bastard who did this," Gibbs said. He was really itching to find this son of a bitch and mess him up. Because DiNozzo had been right. What happened to McGee was pure evil.

"Right. So what's the plan?" Tony asked.

"We head back to Headquarters and start doing our jobs, that's the plan," Gibbs said as though it were obvious.

"Gibbs, I don't think McGee should be alone. If he's going to pull through, he's going to need support. And if he's not, he should have someone with him when he goes. I wanna stay," Kate said. She didn't feel she could leave McGee. He needed to know that someone was there for him either way.

"Boss, it might not be such a bad idea. I mean, for all we know, this bastard is going to keep trying. McGee should have someone with him at all times," Tony said. He agreed with Kate that McGee needed someone with him to pull him through, but he knew Gibbs would respond better to the protection angle. Besides, it wasn't like he wasn't telling the truth. McGee's life was still in danger and not just from his injuries. The person who did this made it very clear that they wanted him dead. They wouldn't stop until he was.

Gibbs considered it for a minute. He needed every hand possible, but Tony and Kate were both right. McGee shouldn't be alone right now. "We'll arrange for protection immediately. Kate, you can stay until McGee's family is notified and arrives. Then I want you back at work assisting with the case. Got it?"

Kate nodded. "Got it."

Gibbs turned to Tony. "Let's go."

Tony looked at Kate, silently telling her to take care of McGee before following his Boss down the hall.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, Gibbs was back at Headquarters making his way into Abby's lab. He had to tell her about McGee and he was not looking forward to it. Abby had been very close with McGee for a while there. She was not going to take the news of what happened to him very well.

When he got into the lab, he found it blazing with music as usual. He immediately went over to the stereo and shut it off, causing Abby to come out of her office to see what was up.

"Gibbs, you're back from Norfolk. Do you have evidence for me?" Abby asked. She'd heard about what happened from around the building. Word had already gotten around that it was an NCIS agent that was hurt. Almost every agent in the building wanted blood.

"No, not yet. Any evidence there was, was destroyed in the fire," Gibbs said.

"Yeah, I guess that was the point of setting the guy on fire. Do you know who it was yet? Everyone wants to know who it was that was hurt. The whole building's in an uproar about one of our agents being attacked," Abby said.

Gibbs wasn't surprised to hear that. Word travelled fast even within NCIS, and of course people would be upset. One of their own getting attacked was an upsetting thing. "Yeah, I know who it was. Abs, you're not gonna like what I have to tell you."

"Gibbs, what is it? You're scaring me," Abby said. It wasn't often that she head this tone in Gibbs' voice, but it pretty much always meant something bad when she did.

"The agent that was attacked wasn't a stranger. It was McGee," Gibbs said as gently as he could. He knew it wouldn't do any good though. No matter how he said it, Abby would be devastated.

Abby felt her stomach drop when she heard the words. McGee was the agent hurt. That was what Gibbs had said. No. No, that couldn't be true. McGee couldn't be hurt like that. She couldn't deal with that. "No. No! You're wrong, Gibbs. McGee is fine."

"Abby, he's not," Gibbs said.

"No, you're wrong. It's not him! You made a mistake. The agent that was hurt had to be burnt badly. You couldn't possible tell that it was him," Abby reasoned. She was willing to cling to anything that would mean McGee wasn't the one that was hurt.

"Abs…"

"No, I'll prove it," Abby said before taking out her phone. "I'll call McGee and you'll see he's fine."

Gibbs grabbed Abby by the arm. "Abby, stop! McGee is in the hospital in a coma. He's not gonna answer the phone. I know you don't wanna hear this, but it's the truth. McGee is hurt. He's in serious trouble right now."

Abby shook her head and began to cry. "No, he can't be."

Gibbs immediately put his arms around her and let her cry. "It is, Abs. I'm sorry, but it is."

Abby began to cry inconsolably into Gibbs arms.

Gibbs rubbed her back soothingly. "Shhh. I got you, Abs. It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay."


End file.
